Participatory photography with Railton Road residents

Our latest display is a large-scale print as part of Never Far Away a project by the artists, Josh Wright & Guillaume Vandame, collectively known as Wright & Vandame. Between the autumn 2016 and the early spring 2018, while on a socially engaged lens-based residency with Photofusion in Brixton, the artist collective were inspired to understand the greater changes rapidly happening across London through art. As a case study, the artists chose to focus exclusively on one street and that street just so happened to be Railton Road, a stone’s throw away from the Brixton Pound Cafe.

The artist duo became fascinated by Railton Road because of its history of radical social and political movements of the late 20th century and the impact of gentrification on the area and these histories. Through research and collaboration with residents living on Railton Road, the artists became interested in the theme of open and closed spaces.

Through this theme the artists drew attention to organisations and community spaces which had lost local funding and become abandoned, alongside charities which lacked visibility of the invaluable services offered to the public. Never Far Away consists of photographs created
by the participants and local residents as well as an offsite exhibition trail on Railton Road at various sites including the Brixton Pound Cafe.

The artists have made a free map and poster for visitors to take away, but feel free to get lost and find yourself at the heart of Brixton and discover Railton Road for yourself!

Intrepid photographers brave a rainy day to capture the best of Railton Road…

Taking Part
An exhibition of socially-engaged photography curated by Anthony Luvera